'Great Day': No Pride Lost For Army Team Despite Hearts Charity Thrashing

The Army in Scotland select football side has been thrashed 13-0 by Hearts Legends in their annual charity fixture.

The forces team suffered defeat last year and were looking to make amends at the Oriam Centre in Edinburgh.

Hearts triumphed 6-4 last time around but unfortunately 2018's game, played to raise money for ABF: The Soldier's Charity, turned out to be a less closely-fought affair.

That didn't dampen things for the military charity, however. Charle Dunphie, its regional director for Scotland, said:

"[There are] hundreds of people here today and that's raising funds which makes a big difference to beneficiaries - and that's ultimately what all of this is about."

"[We are] the Army's National Charity, helping soldiers and their families when they're in need... Today will definitely have helped with that."

On the field, the Jambos took around 10 minutes to break the deadlock.

Some neat play down the left-hand side resulted in former Scotland goalkeeper Paul Gallagher put Hearts ahead.

They doubled their lead soon after, when a tidy one-two saw Jim Rae put through.

The Tynecastle side was dominating the play and put themselves even further ahead when former Northern Ireland striker Andy Kirk got their third.

The waves of attack kept coming and a through ball to Gallagher saw the former Scotland number one keep his composure and put Hearts further ahead.

With half-time approaching the Army side was looking increasingly vulnerable.

And the Jambos took advantage when striker Jon Daly found room in the box to put his side five goals up at the break.

There was no letup for the soldiers after the break, meanwhile.

Some neat play between Kirk and Scott Severin saw the Northern Irishman bag his second of the match - and the goals kept on coming.

Severin got on the scoresheet himself next, this time with a close-range effort.

And it kept getting worse for the Army side, with Kirk completing his hat-trick with another tap-in to compound their misery.

Then, in what was the pick of the goals, cult hero Jose Quitongo glided through the Army defence and finished off a great solo effort.

Severin and Fox then combined again to put the legends even further ahead.

And as if it wasn't already an uphill battle for the Army side, a defensive mix-up gifted Hearts the chance to increase their lead and Gallagher the opportunity to claim his third of the match.

The former Jambos stopper was clearly enjoying his role up front and capped off a convincing 13-0 win with a curling effort.

Hearts Legends captain Gary Locke said: "We knew it'd be a hard game because the [Army] lads are fit. They've been trained to be fit all their lives.

"We knew we'd be up against it so we pulled in all the big hitters today and fortunately for us we took every chance we had."

"But it was a great day and a great spectacle for the fans that came along as well. The most important thing is [that] everybody enjoyed themselves."

Scots Guards Captain John Ford said:

"It was great. It'd not the scoreline, it's the competitiveness on the pitch - and it's the cause at the end of the day, that's why we're playing the game.

"It was about turning up and raising money for the Army Benevolent Fund... that's what it's about."

It wasn't the scoreline the Army players were looking for but they're already looking for a rematch next year to restore some pride.

Not to mention claiming that elusive win against the Tynecastle side...

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